Time to leave

It will seem strange to leave Moyhill – no more animal chores twice a day – substantially less sh*t to shovel and no more Burren – for a while. Despite a very wet period in July/August and of course the flooding in November, we have had a lot of great days. None more so than the last week or so with icy temperatures (-5C this morning) and clear skies – it feels as if winter has really arrived. According to a local writer - PJ Curtis, the author of ‘The Music of Ghosts‘ and ‘The Lightning Tree’:
"Christmas in the Burren –regardless of the weather - is serene, beautiful and strangely mysterious. The grey mantle of winter has long since been cast over the land and in this silent world of stone, the pale, low-lying sun, when it peeps through the shroud of leaden cloud, highlights a rich tapestry of deep-winter colours. There are deep carpets of fallen leaves and also of furze, hazel-bush and of bracken, in every possible hue of russet and dark-brown. So too are the varied mosses, and other winter shrubs. The trees of Christmas, the Rowan, the Holly and Ivy, are in their full regalia of blossom. You will experience no green so startling as that of a lone holly-bush pushing up from a craggy limestone fissure. Startling too is the sight of red holly-berries on a bush which was previously barren. Peer a little closer and you may be rewarded with a glimpse of a tiny robin perched among the prickly holly-leaves glistening with silver droplets of rain; its red breast competing madly with a profusion of red berries."
Hard to follow – except to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2010.

Getting ready for the rainforest

Having finally managed to identify the 9 or 10 varieties of birds which feed regularly around the cottage, we are now studying the 30 or so species of birds which we will be expected to identify when we get to Tortuguero. The Herons, Egrets and Kingfishers should be straightforward but the jacana and the purple gallinule may be a challenge.
We have 5 days in London after Christmas to get ready for our trip and do a bit of shopping before packing up and heading for Heathrow on Jan 5th. Not sure if there will be time for blog entries before then but will try to keep in touch from Costa Rica when we have internet access.

It must be Christmas

The dulcet tones of Shane McGowan singing Fairytale of New York with Kirsty McColl; a poinsettia on the window sill; a distinct aroma of cloves and cinnamon wherever you go; and houses lit up as if they had never heard of climate change; it must be Christmas – I even heard a story of a Canadian banker who bought himself a new BMW!
As everyone knows, Christmas is a time for families and nowhere more so than here in Ireland. We were chatting with a young couple who live nearby and learned that between them they have 17 siblings – all of whom are married and living within a 5 mile radius. Assuming an average of two children per couple (low for this part of the country) this means that the immediate family group including a grandparent or two would need a whole flock of turkeys and a couple of geese in reserve…

Running out of time

Since we only have a week left at Moyhill, there are a number of to-do lists on the go and a lengthy discussion about when we should start packing. I think there will be plenty of time next weekend but Linda wants to start a bit sooner.
5 days without rain has been a real bonus even if the temperature is down around -4 in the mornings. The log supply has lasted the course - with a little bit of turf bought in - and we may even finish all the lamb in the freezer.
Internet continues to be the only frustration - one laptop has died completely and the other refuses to hold the dial-up connection - so we are at the library regularly as we finalise arrangements for our departure and for the CA trip.

Chorizo

We disposed of the first batch of mice in the loft with poisoned bait which had the unfortunate consequence of a very bad smell in the office when they crawled into a dark corner to die. Had to find them and remove them to get rid of the smell.
Decided to rely on traps thereafter and have been trying a variety of things from the fridge to tempt mice to the traps which I set each morning. Without doubt, Chorizo is the best solution. have managed to catch at least one a day for the last week or so.
My strike rate has dropped off a bit over the last couple of days and I am hoping that's because we are running out of mice.

Does anyone have a rubber dinghy we can borrow?

Apparently, the west of Ireland has had 4 months worth of rain in the last 3 weeks – and it hasn’t stopped yet. As a result, the Shannon waterway is close to being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water which is trying to make its way to the sea. Hindered by exceptionally high tides and strong westerly winds, the water has now backed up into areas which have not been flooded in living memory. We have escaped the worst of this but there are a lot of families across the county who have seen their homes inundated and are not expecting the waters to recede for a week or more. There are aerial photos of some of the flooding on the Clare FM website. Perhaps there are advantages to living in a city centre flat on the 6th floor!

Do I look like a fecking truck driver?

While the dress code here in Clare may be a little more relaxed than in EC2, one tries to maintain a certain standard. In pursuit of this goal, I visited my barber in Ennistymon today – not just any old barber but a transplanted Dub who has helped me to understand the vagaries of the Irish economy and political life over the last few months.
As I left Ed’s place, on my way to meet Linda, I was accosted by the driver of a late model Mercedes saloon – apparently the owner of a local hotel – who was upset by a parked truck which was blocking access to his driveway. In response to the question “are you the driver of that truck?” I regret that I could manage nothing better than the response above.